Uncle Bob

One of the things that came up a few times at the Excel wedding show over the weekend was brides using relatives or friends to shoot their wedding images. I would be chatting to a bride who had stopped at my stand and ask them if they had found a photographer for their wedding. "Well, sort of" was the answer I got from brides who were using relatives or friends, 'Uncle Bob' as they are affectionately known! One bride even admitted that Uncle Bob had recently shot a landmark family birthday, "I even gave him a 4 gigabyte card so he should have been able to take hundreds of images during the day, when I looked at them on my computer the next day, he'd only taken 15 pictures......"
The digital age has changed photography over the last eight or so years, most mobile phones these days have a bigger file size than the first pro cameras I had. Compacts and DSLR's are now better, faster and cheaper than ever before and almost everyone has a camera of some description available to them. Just because someone has a DSLR and enjoys photography doesn't mean they can produce a body of top quality work that captures the day. And they can't go back next week and try and shoot it again, you only get one chance.
But this is the biggest day in a brides life and after the cake has been eaten and the champagne drunk, photographs are the only things you have left. I love shooting weddings, I could happily shoot one every week, but it's a full on day. Once started, you don't have a minute to waste to get all the images your couple want. You have to know what's going to happen next, what lens to have on your camera and where to be. You have to know what to do when things go wrong, when things run late (which they always do!) and when the wonderful British weather conspires against you. And after the big day, how to process and edit over 14 gigs of raw images and produce a beautiful book.


If you know a bride who has "sort of" booked her photographer, please get her to think again. Let Uncle Bob take the pictures he wants to take and enjoy the day, let the professional photographer do a professional job.